NATIONAL ARENA BRONZE CUP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Spearheaded by the Arena Committee and established in 2022, the National Arena Bronze Cup fills the demand for national arena events at the low-goal level. In 2023, the tournament made its debut at Brandywine Polo Club in Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania, with La Jefa earning the inaugural title.
In 2024, the tournament relocated to Legends Polo Club in Kaufman, Texas. After four weeks of play, Elite Motion & Performance (Amanda Massey, Mark Osburn, Tiamo Hudspeth) and Polo InterActive (Jose Velez, Luis Mancebo, Javier Insua) emerged as finalists for a battle between the boards. Meeting for the second time in the series, Elite Motion delivered another impressive performance, defeating Polo InterActive 20-15. Read article here.
The National Arena Bronze Cup joins the National Arena Delegate's Cup and National Arena Chairman's Cup alongside multiple circuit events as part of the widely popular Texas Arena League (TAL). In its eighth year of competition, TAL is comprised of host locations Legends Polo Club, Brookshire Polo Club (Brookshire, Texas), Dripping Springs Ranch Park Event Center & Arena (Hays Country, Texas) and San Antonio Rose Palace (San Antonio, Texas), uniting arena players competing from the beginner to 12-goal level across the state.
Showcasing many familiar TAL competitors, this year's edition will feature a deep field of eight competitive teams including Diamond Y, Interim Physicians, Legends Polo Club, Los Pollos Locos, Los Polo Hermanos, Polo InterActive, Red River Polo and Team Marines.
Legends Polo Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the National Arena Bronze Cup, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with waived tournament fees, trophies or trophy reimbursements, one professional umpire and $2,500 in prize money at no extra cost. TSP tournaments with six or more teams may opt for a second no-cost professional umpire in lieu of prize money. TAL has elected to leverage this opportunity, therefore no prize money will be awarded.
The USPA originally created the Tournament Stimulus Package (TSP) to help member clubs host USPA events when the United States was emerging from the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis. The USPA wanted to continue to support member clubs with TSP benefits in 2022. Therefore, it extended and expanded TSP under a new name—the Tournament Support Program. Each USPA Member Club can obtain TSP benefits for two USPA events, with the option of a third under specific circumstances.
Photo: 2024 National Arena Bronze Cup Champions: Elite Motion & Performance - Tiamo Hudspeth, Mark Osburn, Amanda Massey. ©David Murrell
